The present invention relates to a heat sealable wrapping or packing film which is capable of forming a peelable seal. The seal is achievable either between two films of this kind, or between one film of this kind and a polypropylene packing film without the need for an adhesive between this film and the polypropylene.
A peelable seal is defined to be the seal or joint between two films produced by heat sealing or impulse sealing, the joint thus formed having the property of being able to open in the original plane of joining of the two films by the action of a pulling force, without wrenching off or tearing occurring in the material of the two films used to make up the joint. For the purposes of the present invention, the peelable seal must possess a mechanical resistance sufficient to maintain the wholeness and the tight-seal properties of the packing and wrapping during storage and transport until such time as the packing or wrapping is opened by the user of the article. The mechanical resistance of the peelable seal must be low enough to permit ready manual opening of the joint, i.e., without the use of any auxiliary instrument.
In the past, many varieties of thermoplastic materials have been employed in the manufacture of films capable of forming peelable seals. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,189,519, to American Can, which discloses a blend for producing a peelable heat seal comprising (1) about 50 to 90 percent by weight of a copolymer of about 80 to 96 percent by weight ethylene and about 4 to 20 percent by weight of an ethylenically unsaturated ester, and (2) about 10 to 50 percent by weight of a crystalline isotactic polybutylene. While capable of forming a peel seal, the film of '519 discloses polybutylene as a minor component. The blend of '519 bonds to high density polyethylene (HDPE) without the use of adhesive, but will not bond to polypropylene without an adhesive.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,900,534 to Mobil Oil Corporation discloses thermoplastic shrink films with good heat seal characteristics and good optical properties, however, '534 does not address the need for a peel seal film.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,817,821 to E. I. DuPont de Nemours & Co. discloses blends of EVA with polybutylene at 20-40 w% however, '821 does not include polypropylene in the blend.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,879,492 to UCB S. A. Belgium discloses blends of polybutylene+styrene-butadiene copolymer+LDPE+HDPE+polyisobutylene however, '492 fails to include polypropylene in the blend.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,539,263 to E. I. DuPont de Nemours & Co. discloses peel seals based on blends of comonomers and propylene/.alpha.-olefin copolymer, however, '263 does not provide disclosure directed to polybutylenes.
U.S. Pat. Application Ser. No. 750,342, now abandoned discloses blends of polybutylene+EVA (or polyethylene)+polypropylene with polypropylene being less than 15 weight percent in the blend. However, none of these references teaches the novel invention.
There has been a long felt need for a wrapping or packing material having easy peelability at the seal and yet which will bond to polypropylene without the aid of an adhesive and which are retortable at temperatures of 250.degree. F. or above.